Walther P38 - Shooting a Classic Pistol

The Walther P38 is one of the more influential pistol designs of the 20th century, one which is often times overlooked. Many handguns today use features originally found on the Walther P38 pistol of the World War II era. The Walther P38 even influenced the design of the US military M9 and M9A1 service pistols.

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• walther
• p38
• pistol
• german
• wwii
• handgun
• 9mm
• military
• arms
• channel
• outdoors
• shooting
• shoot
• m9
• beretta
• double
• action
• sport

[mikesmith007x]

So nice to see a 3rd gen smith make it into a video of this quality. Such an overlooked class of handguns.

[Sturmgewehre]

@mikesmith007x I believe the 3rd Gen Smith pistols were some of the best double action autos ever built. My 5906 will forever have a place in my gun safe.

[georgiacatweazle]

Can you run modern higher pressure hollow points ? i would expect the build quality of the P38 to handle it.

[Sturmgewehre]

@georgiacatweazle Only standard pressure 9mms should be used. Hot loads like +P or especially +P+ will accelerate wear on the pistol considerably. Despite being all steel the locking mechanism is somewhat frail. This carried over into the Beretta design as well, however Beretta has been upgrading the materials used in their locking lugs and has also slightly modified the design to increase service life.

[HolinessWarrior]

Another great video! Would you recommend an M9? Time to start saving for another gun :)

[Sturmgewehre]

@HolinessWarrior I like the M9 despite its shortcomings. It's not the most reliable pistol in adverse conditions (like mud and sand) however if kept clean or for civilian use it's very reliable and easy to shoot. I have 3 Beretta's, a 92 stainless, a M9 and M9A1. I enjoy shooting them quite a bit.

[blackbeard456]

Just to let you know, the Pattern M1917 rifle I was looking at buying, you were correct about the DP on the receiver. The previous owner switch barrels to make it a usable rifle. I was beat out at the last min by $5.00. Oh well I will order one from CMP in a few months

[Shooter9x19]

wow, influenced a lot of pistols...looks pretty modern for a pistol of the 1930's....so does the browning hipower which also influenced many designs

[mikesmith007x]

@Sturmgewehre As reliable as handguns get and they are tack drivers. What's not to like?! Oh yeah, none have been used in the latest Bond or mission impossible movies...I guess that takes the cool out of them for the mall ninjas :) I hope my 5906 and 4566 stay in my family for generations!

[katamishi]

You Sir, are awesome, and calm, and make really straightforward videos.

[gunlover88]

would like to see more surplus guns in the future. Keep it up MAC

[SavageArms357]

Wouldn't it be awesome if Walther made an updated version of the P-38?

[DelmarvaShoreman]

I own a '42 Spreewerke P-38. It's a beautiful gun and runs like a watch on the Winchester white box and other regular 9MM ammo. Nice review!

[izkormvach]

Nice sound for an old german flute ha ha!Regards